View source for Help:Contributing

{{WIP|reason=Page standards, useful quick links, editing help}}
Thank you for your interest for wanting to contribute to the Roblox Legacy Docs project! Apologies for the short page here, we have a lot of work to do.
== Discussion ==
If you would like to discuss anything about the project - pages we should take a look at, ideas for new articles and guides, etc. it's recommended to reach us at [https://discord.gg/CHFK7eXXMY the ROBLOX Client Search Discord server.] There is a forum post dedicated to discussion about the project, and all the editors are in it. You may also [//realja.me/contact contact the site admin, realjame, directly.]
== Getting started ==
Editing pages is exclusive to users with accounts, and account creation is private. Only [[User:Realjame]] can create accounts for new editors. But don't worry! It's not at all a complicated process to get an editor account.

Contact us, preferably in the Discord server, about getting an account. It's extremely lax, and as long as you have some previous history or knowledge with old Roblox, you'll most likely get an account. If you were already active in the Client Search server, it's practically guaranteed.
== Things to do ==
There's always more work to do. Here's some quick links:
* [[:Category:Unwritten_original_pages]] for new pages that are not yet written.
* [[:Category:Lacks_media]] for pages without enough media (screenshots, diagrams, video recordings, etc.)
* [[:Category:Low_quality_media]] for pages with low-quality media that should be replaced.
* [[:Category:Needs_improvement]] for pages with low-quality writing (the topic is good, but the article should be rewritten to be more professional/readable/understandable/etc.)
* [[:Category:Object_Needs_Description]] for objects in the API documentation lacking a description.
* [[:Category:Unfinished_Object_Documentation]] for objects in the API documentation that are not fully documented.
* [[:Category:Outdated_pages]] for pages that were either noticeably written before 2012 or partially write about the classic Roblox website or client.
* [[:Category:Stubs]] for pages that have very little information and should be expanded.
* [[:Category:Buried pages]] for pages with valuable info that deserve to be linked in a primary index (e.g. Tutorials) and/or in related articles.
* [[Special:Categories]] is a list of all categories/tags, so look through for any to-do categories not listed here.
== Helpful links ==
* [[Special:SpecialPages]] is a list of all special pages.
* [[Special:NewFiles]] is a gallery of all images and videos, check here for existing icons you can reuse.
* [[Special:AllPages]] is a list of all pages on the wiki
* More reference links is to-do...
=== MediaWiki special pages ===
These pages are important templates for the site and generally shouldn't be touched.
* [[MediaWiki:Sidebar]]
* [[MediaWiki:Monobook.css]] is the CSS theme for the entire site. Don't edit it unless you really know what you're doing, and even then seriously consider!
* [[MediaWiki:Copyrightwarning2]] is the message in the article edit page, below the summary input field and above the save button.
== Page standards ==
This section is somewhat to-do, but here are some things to keep in mind:
=== Information is circa-2012 ===
As a knowledge base for working with old Roblox clients, 2012 has been selected as the cut-off year for information, for 2 reasons:

# This Wiki was started from an archive in mid-2012, so all existing information is written in that era or previous.
# 2012 is arguably considered the cut-off year for "Old Roblox". While 2011/12 had appearance revamps and [[RBX.lua.Dialog_(Object)|new]] [[RBX.lua.Terrain_(Object)|features]] of their own, the appearance and gameplay still retains the classic energy started in 2006. Roblox gradually deviated away from that in the next 4 years.

No documentation of clients from future years may be written about on this wiki. In addition, [[:Category:Outdated_pages|articles noticably written in an earlier time]] must be corrected, this also includes screenshots taken in older Roblox versions. Please replace them with an equivalent screenshot taken in a mid-2012 client (on Novetus snapshots, 2012M).
=== Images must not be modern design ===
There are no plans or wishes by the editors to rework this wiki into a more modern, 2020s feeling website. We're keeping the look just the way it was in 2012. To that end, new images (primarily icons) must fit the style used in images uploaded by the original Wiki editors back then.

Here are some example icons we've uploaded recently. They are skeuomorphic with complex shading and texture.
[[File:Magnifying_Glass.png|72px]]
[[File:NewIcon.png|72px]]

There may be icons that resemble flat design, but they generally have a detailed design that does not fit with modern-day approaches, such as this checkmark.
[[File:Green_Tick.png|72px]]

Tip: When searching for images to use, add "before:2014" to the end of your search to only show results from before the specified year (in this case, 2014). You should also be wary of using copyrighted images.
=== Articles not to edit ===
==== Old user pages ====
Pages stored under original Roblox Wiki users are considered archived and shouldn't be edited. If they show up in categories, please avoid them. Generally, people stored articles under their account to show that it's a work-in-progress they're still writing. If you want to expand it and make it a real article, please fork it (copy the article and write it in a new non-user URL).
==== Archived pages ====
Speaking of archived pages, all pages with the "Archived" banner and/or in the [[:Category:Archived_pages]] category shouldn't be edited in any way, except to further restore the article (by re-uploading missing images).

<b>The only exception to these 2 rules is to replace external links with Wayback Machine archive links. Make sure to find an archive closest to when the article was last edited (check the history tab).</b>
=== Editing help ===
==== Using MediaWiki ====
MediaWiki is the server software used to host this wiki. It's used by Wikipedia, Fandom, and [https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Main_Page many] [https://wikirby.com/ other] [http://www.hrwiki.org/wiki/Main_Page wiki] [https://tcrf.net/The_Cutting_Room_Floor projects].

There's a lot to consider and keep in mind when writing a page, such as templates, categories, page structure, HTML elements, and more. MediaWiki can get complex at times, but there are a lot of help resources available.

Here are some useful resources, from the official MediaWiki help wiki, on editing pages.
==== Pages ====
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Editing_pages Editing pages]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Starting_a_new_page Starting a new page]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Moving_a_page Moving (renaming) a page]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Deletion_and_undeletion Deleting and undeleting pages]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:User_page User page]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Talk_pages Talk pages] (Note that we don't use talk pages. Article and project discussion is on the Discord thread)
==== Formatting ====
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Formatting Basic formatting]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Lists Lists]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Links Links]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Tables Tables]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Images Images]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Cite Footnotes]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:SyntaxHighlight Code formatting with Lua syntax highlighting]
==== MediaWiki stuff ====
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Templates Templates]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Categories Categories]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Namespaces Namespaces]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Subpages Subpages]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Managing_files Managing files]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Linking_to_files Linking to files]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Magic_words "Magic words"]
* [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Redirects Redirects]
[https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Category:Help For more help, here's a list of all help pages on MediaWiki], [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Editing and specifically editing help articles here] (or you can just use Google or the Discord thread for help).
== Templates ==
Here are some commonplace templates on the Wiki, both in new articles by our team and existing articles.
===[[Template:Redirect|Redirect]]===
This template is used to indicate that another article might have been searched for by the user who followed a redirect to this page and links either to a disambiguation page, either to the article mentioned.
==== Usage ====
 <nowiki>{{</nowiki>redirect|'''redirect'''|'''article'''[|'''text''']<nowiki>}}</nowiki>
Note: text between brackets ([ and ]) is optional, text in bold represents a certain value (something you must replace) and the rest represents things that must be present as-is.
==== Parameters ====
;1
:The name of the redirect.
;2
:The article to link to. Should be either a disambiguation page, either another article the user might have been searching for.
;3
:The text that represents the difference between the current article and the other article. If you are linking to a disambiguation page, ignore this and it will be replaced by "other uses".
==== Example ====
===== Code =====
 <nowiki>{{redirect|Help|Roblox Wiki:Help|help about this wiki}}</nowiki>
===== Result =====
{{redirect|Help|Roblox Wiki:Help|help about this wiki}}
===[[Template:CatUp|Up one category]]===
This template gives a link box in the top right corner of the page, linking back to a previous page to go to. Many pages have them, they provide a very easy to use interface to move around the wiki. Prevents dead ends, prevents lost users, prevents cancer. Use often. Should be noted, it embeds a wee bit into the top of an element. Be careful with that. '''This template should be in the FIRST line of the page. Not the second or third, the FIRST.'''
 <nowiki>{{CatUp|Main Page}}</nowiki>
{{CatUp|Main Page}}


===[[Template:EmphasisBox|Emphasis Box]]===

{{EmphasisBox/doc}}

===[[Template:Color|Color]]===

Generates a standard color (in hexadecimal format), with a modifier.  Usage:

<code><nowiki>{{Color|orange|dark}}</nowiki></code> gives <{{1x|pre}} style="display:inline; display:inline-block; padding:0; border:none; background:transparent; margin:0;">{{Color|orange|dark}}</pre>

A full list of colors is available on the template's page.

===[[Template:See_also|See also]]===

{{See_also}}

===[[Template:CatItem|CategoryItem]]===



===Object Templates===

These templates are used for object API documentation.

* [[Template:Protected|Protected item]]
* [[Template:Derived_classes|Derived classes]]
* [[Template:Method|Method]]
* [[Template:Property|Property]]
* [[Template:Event|Event]]
* [[Template:Callback|Callback]]
* [[Template:ClassReference|Class Reference]]
== Tags/Banner Templates ==
"Tags", appearing as banners above the article, are important for alerting the reader about things that need to be done, or just a quality of the article itself (e.g it is archived). Using one will add the page to the tag's category, to help editors know what needs immediate improvement.
=== [[Template:Stub|Stub]] ===
Categorize pages as a stub when there is either little information on the page, or none at all. These pages need some love, so if you know what you are doing, then [[:Category:Stubs|go ahead and try to expand them]].
{{Stub}}
=== [[Template:Outdated|Outdated]] ===
Pages marked with this are outdated for varying reasons:
* It reflects an older version of Roblox or is noticeably written before 2012.
* The article is partially about the Roblox website or client as of 2012, which no longer exists in that state. 
In the first case, they must be rewritten to fit the "information is circa-2012" standard. In the second, the article must be edited to remove or rework any references to the Roblox website or client. Outdated pages are categorized in [[:Category:Outdated_pages]].
{{Outdated}}
=== [[Template:Archived|Archived]] ===
If an outdated article is solely dedicated to the Roblox website or is otherwise historically valuable, mark it as archived instead. It will be added to [[:Category:Archived_Pages|its own category.]]
{{Archived}}
For clarity, the difference between an archived and an outdated page is like so:
* If the article is about the [[Groups]] feature on Roblox.com, it has to be archived. Groups were only a feature on the website, which doesn't exist as it did in 2012.
* If the article is a tutorial about [https://wiki.realja.me/index.php?title=How_do_I_build_my_place%3F&oldid=82091 how to build your place] and it mentions how to select Roblox's default maps, it should be marked as outdated, not archived. The topic of the article is good, because you can still use the old Roblox client via 3rd party launchers and build a place in Studio, simply remove the mention of that defunct feature.
=== [[Template:Placeholder]] ===
For planned new articles that haven't been written yet. Feel free to take the initiative and [[:Category:Outdated_pages|start them]], even a basic outline or a stub is good enough. 
{{Placeholder}}
=== Work in Progress ===
If a page is unfinished, let readers know by adding this tag to the start. It'll also add the page to [[:Category:WIP_Pages}}.
{{WIP|reason=Describe what needs to be done.}}
=== [[Template:Sucks|Needs Improvement]] ===
To quote [https://tcrf.net/Template:Sucks TCRF]:
<blockquote>
    "Oh boy... Some articles look like they were made by people who have no idea how wikis work. At least they're trying to help out... right? <br>Anyway, use this template, like so: <code><nowiki>{{Sucks|reason=The grammar... the image alignment... the poor jokes...}}</nowiki></code> to point out that this page needs a rewrite."
</blockquote>
{{Sucks|reason=The grammar... the image alignment... the poor jokes...}}
=== [[Template:LacksMedia|Lacks Media]] ===
Pages should have media. Some examples of "media" are:
* [[:File:OfficeBuildingShot2.png|Screenshots]]
* [[:File:HowAdsWork.png|Diagrams]]
* Video recordings
If a page is lacking media, tag it as such. They'll be put in [[:Category:Lacks_media]].
{{LacksMedia|reason=Describe your reason - what specifically should be added? Where?}}
=== [[Template:LowQualityMedia|Low Quality Media]] ===
A page's media may be considered "low quality" for several reasons:
* It is blurry, low resolution, or has watermarks.
* It is [[:Category:Outdated_pages|outdated]] (e.g a screenshot of a Windows XP menu or pre-2012 client).
* It is quite simply bad: poorly made and/or unhelpful.
To improve the media, replace it with a higher quality one, which is easier said then done. It's not required to make a pixel-perfect recreation, one that gets the point across like the original will work fine. Either way, making new media for the article will generally require you to make a new map from scratch in Studio, and if it's a tutorial, to follow and do the tutorial. For diagrams, make a new one in your [https://jspaint.app/ favorite] [https://getpaint.net image] [https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html editing] [https://www.gimp.org/ software].

{{LowQualityMedia|reason=Describe your reason - what specific media should be replaced?}}
=== [[Template:NonStandard|Non-Standard Feature]] ===
While the Wiki's info is up to the 2012 client, we still care for previous versions of the game. Some features aren't available in later versions (like [[DHTML]]) and some aren't available in earlier versions (like [[RBX.lua.Dialog_(Object)|Dialog]] and [[RBX.lua.Terrain_(Object)|Terrain]]). Use this template to alert the user that they won't be able to use this engine feature in all versions of the game.

(Note that "standard" is kind of a vague definition. Currently, it means the 2010 client.)
{{NonStandard}}

=== [[Template:Buried|Buried]] ===
Articles marked with this have valuable information but are difficult for people who need the info to discover it.

{{Buried}}

=== [[Template:NotCreatable|Not Creatable]] ===
If an object documentation page is tagged with this, it notes that the object cannot be created in Studio using Instance.new. You can optionally add a note if it's creatable or not in specific versions.

{{NotCreatable|note=Not creatable in 2009E, but can be created in 2009M+.}}